Decision on talks has made this SAARC summit historic: Pak FM

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Tuesday said that the decision by his country and India to resume talks has made the Islamabad SAARC summit "pathbreaking and historic".

Asking the media to play a constructive role by not focussing on "whether it (the decision) is a victory for India or Pakistan", he told journalists at a press conference to "get out of that mindset. Please do not try to look for something which will derail the process."

"It is a victory for common sense, for moderation, for statesmanship, for India and Pakistan and particularly for the poor people of South Asia," he said adding that it was because of the continuing tension between the two countries, the South Asia is being left behind in development.

"Unfortunately, SAARC has been held hostage to Pakistan-India relations... Therefore the Islamabad summit will be remembered as pathbreaking and historic," he said.

Kasuri also read out the joint press statement issued by the two countries on the meeting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had with President Pervez Musharraf. Earlier the statement was read out to the media by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha.